GREAT FIGHTBACK BRINGS A NARROW LEAD

NEWS Friday 29th October 2010, 0:55am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

At a wild, wet and windy Armadale the Scotwaste Monarchs made a bad start to the KO Cup Final first leg but fought back from a 7-point deficit at heat 8 to grab a 5-point advantage by the end.

That might not be as many as Monarchs would have liked but there is no way they are throwing in the towel for Sunday's second leg. John Campbell said ?The riders of both teams deserve a lot of credit for their efforts tonight but I must say I will be disappointed if we can't win the cup on Sunday!?

Ryan Fisher crashed in both heat 1 and heat 6, and William Lawson (who rode very well) lost points through a fall and engine failure. Heat 6 was the major disaster for the home side as they held a 4-2 at one point, only for Lawson to fall (due to an electrical fault) while in third place. In the rerun Fisher crashed trying to pass Howe and the heat finished as a 0-5.

A 2-4 in the next race made the deficit 7 points but Monarchs did not give up in spite of the wet and slippery circuit.

Heat 9 was an excellent race and the start of Monarchs' fightback, with Kalle Katajisto coming through to give David Howe his first defeat as Kevin Wolbert went from first to third.

Ryan Fisher then won a heat at last, beating Bach, and 5-1's followed in heats 12 and 13 to give Monarchs a 5-point lead. Wethers and Fisher did especially well to take a maximum advantage over Larsen and Howe in heat 13.

The last two heats were won by Bach and Larsen, with Monarchs sharing, and Newcastle are bound to feel themselves favourites for the aggregate victory.

We shall see on Sunday.